Field of the Disclosure
The following is directed to bonded abrasive articles, and more particularly, bonded abrasive articles including abrasive particles contained within a hybrid bond material including an organic bond material and a metal bond material.
Description of the Related Art
Abrasives used in machining applications typically include bonded abrasive articles and coated abrasive articles. Coated abrasive articles are generally layered articles having a backing and an adhesive coat to fix abrasive particles to the backing, the most common example of which is sandpaper. Bonded abrasive articles consist of rigid, and typically monolithic, three-dimensional, abrasive composites in the form of wheels, discs, segments, mounted points, hones and other article shapes, which can be mounted onto a machining apparatus, such as a grinding, polishing or cutting apparatus.
Bonded abrasive articles usually have at least two phases including abrasive particles and bond material. Certain bonded abrasive articles can have an additional phase in the form of porosity. The bond material can be a hybrid bond material that may include organic bond material and metal bond material. Bonded abrasive articles can be manufactured in a variety of ‘grades’ and ‘structures’ that have been defined according to practice in the art by the relative hardness and density of the abrasive composite (grade) and by the volume percentage of abrasive grain, bond, and porosity within the composite (structure).
Some bonded abrasive articles may be particularly useful in grinding, shaping or cutting certain types of workpieces, including for example, metals, ceramics and crystalline materials, used in the electronics and optics industries. In other instances, certain bonded abrasive articles may be used in grinding, shaping or cutting superabrasive materials for use in industrial applications. Unfortunately, bonded abrasive articles tend to wear and lose shape quickly during grinding, shaping and cutting of workpieces.
Accordingly, the industry continues to demand improved bonded abrasive articles and methods for their use.